Replaceable You by Mary Roach

I usually read Roach's books in hard copy but the audiobook was available sooner. I'm not sure if that contributed to my not enjoying this book as much as usual. Like in most of her books, Roach does a deep dive into a particular topic, this time in the ways that we enhance and recreate our own bodies. Some are practical ways like new hearts or intubation but there are also skin grafts, hair transplants, and plastic surgery that she explores. A lot of it was matter-of-fact but I was surprised to hear that one person told Roach that being intubated was a relief as it allowed her to breathe for the first time in awhile. 

Three stars

This book came out September 16, 2025

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Blood Rites by Jim Butcher

Harry has been asked to help a director who seems to be under a curse. At the same time, he's still dealing with the threat from the vampires. Although not all vampires since Thomas, a recurring character in this series, is the one to ask for his help. 

Harry will, of course, have a number of battles, will end up bruised and bloodied. But he will also come out of this book with some unexpected family. However, he will live to fight another day. 

Three stars

Dresden Files #6

Follows Death Masks

Followed by Dead Beat

This book came out August 3, 2004

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Ode to the Bones by Carolyn Haines

Sarah Booth Delaney and Tinkie are on the hunt for a missing farmer. Oscar had to foreclose on his family's farm and is now concerned that the young man, Danny, is missing. 

Three stars

Sarah Booth Delaney #30

This book comes out May 26, 2026

Follows Doggone Bones

ARC kindly provided by St. Martin's Press and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

The Hollow by Agatha Christie, Hugh Fraser (Narrator)

Dr. John Christow has a varied romantic background. Now, at a weekend at his friends' Sir Henry and Lady Lucy Angkatell's house, known as The Hollow, he has his wife (Gerda), his girlfriend (Henrietta, an artist), and an ex, Veronica (moviestar). It's supposed to be a relaxing weekend away, but the romantic entanglements are going to create stress. It doesn't help that the nephew of the Angkatells, Edmund, is loafing around making eyes at Henrietta.

But tensions rise and John is dead. Henrietta is standing over him with a gun. It seems to be an open and shut case but Hercule Poirot is on site and working with Inspector Colquhoun to discover what really happened.

Three stars

Hercule Poirot #25

Follows Five Little Pigs

Followed by The Labours of Hercules

This  book came out in 1946

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

The Bookshop Below by Georgia Summers

They say you can't go home and Cassandra Fairfax is about to discover exactly how true that sentiment is. She's received a letter from her mentor, Chiron. She arrives in his living quarters above a bookstore to find him dead. She is the sole inheritor and left in a state of confusion. The split between Cassandra and Chiron was not amicable and they did not have a chance to  come back together. Now, she's back in a world she's been living on the fringes of for a number of years. 

Thought of as a child prodigy, Cassandra has not (legitimately) been in a bookshop for a long time. She is shocked that the river beneath it, the one that helps keep the bookshop running, is so low. The start is to bond with the bookshop and bring it back to life. The second is to find a bookseller. Third? Find out why so many people are so interested in the bookshop.

It took me awhile to get into this world and I'm not sure that it was fully put together. An interesting premise maybe not fully realized. If there were another book, it might build the world out better.

Three stars

This book came out November 28, 2025

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Death Masks by Jim Butcher with James Marsters (Narrator)

The war between the Red Court and the Council is raging. There is a possible end in sight if Harry will agree to battle mano-a-mano with the vampire's champion. But he still has to make a buck so when a priest from the Vatican is referred to him, Harry is interested. He's shocked to learn that the item that the priest is searching for is the Shroud of Turin. And if those aren't enough, he's pulled into the investigation of a headless, handless corpse. Then, there's the fact that Susan, his ex(?)-girlfriend is back in town.

There was SO MUCH going on in this book. It took me awhile to get into it and I wish we could have seen more of the "problem of the week" that was in this book but there was a lot of time spent on the overarching stories. 

Three stars

Dresden Files #5

Follows Summer Knight

Followed by Blood Rites

This book came out September 3, 2002

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

6:40 to Montreal by Eva Jurczyk, Allyson Morgan (Narrator)

The comparisons to an Agatha Christie novel are glaring. It starts with the narrators name, the title that is so close to the 4:50 to Paddington, and a snow storm that stops a train. 

 The narrator had a plan. Well, a couple of plans. Her husband has bought her a ticket to a train that has no cell service. She can ride it to Montrea  and then come home. Plenty of time for Agatha to write the five thousand words needed to follow up her best selling novel. She's going to use it for a different plan that the reader (listener) wont know for most of the book. Agatha purposely chose a seat that wasn't near anyone else. So she's surprised when Finch sits down next to her. He wants her seat and is determined to get it. So, Agatha moves. As she does, she notices that Cyan (sp?), her stalker/ex-something, is also on the train. That  would have been bad enough, but then the train stops. And someone dies.

We go back and forth between the past and the present and see how Agatha got to this place, what her plans really are for the train ride, and why this day is so important for her.

The beginning was a bit slow and the ending didn't make sense with the tone of the rest of the book, but I really enjoyed the middle.

Three stars

This book came out October 28, 2025

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

A Killer Wedding by Joan O'Leary

It's the wedding of the year; Gloria Beaufort's second grandson is getting married. To a school teacher. But it's going to be a production. Including Christine Red, a reporter from Bespoke Weddings. Yes, Christine stepped on her editor and mentor to get this job, but it's going to be worth it to see her life's ambition fulfilled.
And it's going to be a major event with everyone being flown to Ireland to stay in a picturesque castle. But the title of the book tells us that someone will die. At least one person. And that everyone's secrets will start to come out. 
With different characters and alternating timelines, there's a lot going on in this book.

Three stars

This book came out September 23, 2025

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Grave Peril by Jim Butcher, narrator James Marsters

It's about a year after the previous book. Harry has been busier than usual. The ghosts of the city seem to be in a tizzy. And a young woman walks into his office, asking for help. She says she sees visions and that Harry is going to be the reason one outcome occurs versus another. He's been working with Michael, a knight of the Lord. And they'll have to keep working together in order to take down an old enemy who is now walking through their nightmares. 

Three stars

Dresden #3

Follows Fool Moon

Followed by Summer Knight

This book came out September 1, 2001

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie with narrator David Suchet

I get this story and the "Triangle at Rhodes" confused with each other. Both are Poirot on vacation with a glamorous woman, in this book, Arlena Stuart, who ends up dead. Both have a female confidante. The confidante in this one is a famous dressmaker who was the childhood friend of the dead woman's husband. In this story, the dead woman's husband has a daughter. His first wife was accused of murder and acquited. The second wife (the dead woman) was also accused of murder and acquited. However, Arlena was rather stupid and vain. She was also having a rather ill-concealed affair with a gentleman who was also on vacation at the Jolly Roger, Patrick Redfern. 

Three stars
Hercule Poirot #23

Follows One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

Followed by Five Little Pigs

This book came out in 1941

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher, narrator James Marsters

 Harry is still under a curse, he's still in Chicago, but he's trying harder to find work since his job with the Chicago police force hasn't been as lucrative since the first book in the series. His friend asks him about a particular rune but it's magic far beyond what she can control so Harry refuses to tell her, which is the right thing. But then he's pulled into a series of murders that look like they were committed by something like a wolf. It's bad enough that the FBI is in town to take the case. 

Three stars

The Dresden Files #2 

Follows Storm Front

Followed by Grave Peril

This book came out January 9, 2001

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Storm Front by Jim Butcher

I read a few of the books in this series soon after the TV show came out but couldn't remember why I had stopped. I think that there is not quite the same sense of fun in the books. There are some funny parts, just a different humor. For this book, there were also a lot of, "I'm not going to make it" moments. A. Lot. 

But this is the book that introduces the readers to Harry Dresden, a wizard in contemporary Chicago. Technology and magic don't work well together so he's not exactly up to date with the latest trends but he muddles along as best he can. He's also trying to make a living. So when two dead bodies turn up with their hearts ripped out, Harry is on the case. 

Three stars

The Dresden Files #1 

Followed by Fool Moon

This book came out April 1, 2000

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Pomona Afton Can Totally Catch a Killer by Bellamy Rose

After the last book, Pomona has been trying to turn her life around. But only a little. You can't expect her to ride the subway, after all. She's starting a foundation to help underprivileged children. There are a lot of nerves surrounding her first gala. She has to prove that she's changed her life. Too bad it's not going well even before a body comes over the balcony. 

She's once again off to the races. And as much as she pretends she's working with Gabe, we get a lot of insight into the fact that she is very much still the pampered party girl that she started out as in the first book. She's growing but, ufda, as much time as has passed, it is slow. 

This ending made a little more sense and I thought the book was fairly clued without being overt about the person behind the death. 

Three stars

Pomona Afton #2
Follows Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder

This book comes out April 14, 2026

ARC kindly provided by Atria Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Death in the Floating City by Tasha Alexander

I read the previous book in this series eleven years ago but was recently reminded that the Lady Emily series was one that I had enjoyed so I picked the series back up. I had forgotten about the alternating timelines... not one of my favorite plot devices. 

Emily has been summoned to Italy by her best frenemy, Emma. There is no love lost between them but Emma's father-in-law has been murdered, her husband has disappeared. Emily's husband is well known as an investigator and Emily is becoming no slouch herself. 

This murder is entwined with a romance from the 1500s and a family feud that is still ongoing. 

Three and a half stars

Lady Emily #7

This book came out 

Follows A Crimson Warning

Followed by Behind the Shattered Glass

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Hexes Go Well with Tequila by LeAnna Ehrsam

This book felt like a cozy fiction book with a random sex scene thrown in for... reasons?

Ursula Cambridge's relationship is failing. When a mysterious invitation appears, she decides to take up the offer to live in The Lost Souls House. Pretty quickly, she makes friends. One night, they get drunk on margaritas and decide to "hex" the people that have wronged them. Except that the hexes turn out to be real. 

There are also a number of sub-plots with a grumpy bachelor and his wayward niece, a friend of a friend who is running for mayor, and the man who is running against her on "family values" who is, not surprisingly, someone who doesn't hold those same values to himself. 

Three stars

The Lost Souls #1

Followed by Curses Dance with Bourbon

This book came out September 24, 2024

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Invisible Influence by Jonah Berger, Keith Nobbs (Narrator)

I think more people are going to be aware of some of the ideas behind this book, especially after Meryl Streep's speech in The Devil Wears Prada about why Anne Hathaway is wearing her sweater. Berger studied the reasons that we make decisions. This is a very Western-centered (especially American) look at how we make choices whether it's the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, or the beer we order. He also looks at how certain styles and colors cycle in and out of popularity. 

Three stars

This book came out Jun 14, 2016

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Slay Fell Things by Erik Henry Vick

He knows when you've been sleeping, he knows when you're awake... And he wants to sacrifice you so that he can stay immortal, as liches do. Well, really, he's going after Leery. But Dru might have something to say about that. 

With Leery and Dru being back in "the real world," their relationship needs to take the next step and this story ends with that happening. 

Three stars

Claw & Warder #8

Follows Sure 'Lock

Followed by Where the Wild Things Aren't

This book came out December 11, 2020

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

The Coaching Effect by Sarah Wirth, Bill Eckstrom

This book has the premise that coaching elevates teams more than managing does. They studied sales teams becuase they are easier to track immediate results. They also talk about the four growth rings: stagnation (low/no growth), chaos (performance low), order (predictibility), complexity (growth through discomfort). 

They also talk about the tools needed for high performance growth: one-on-one meetings, team meetings, performance feedback, and career development plans. It's not only important to have these things but to do them on a particular cadence and in a particular style (in person, email, etc.)  It IS important to be clear and specific, to structure the talk for feedback, and to ask what questions rather than why questions, and to pay attention to your tone. 

It was an interesting book and fine enough to read, but I didn't really connect with the style.

Three stars

This book came out April 2, 2019

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own
 

The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club by Gloria Chao

It starts off so sterotypically, Kathryn has had a bad day and just wants to talk to her boyfriend. When she gets to his house, there are rose petals leading to the bedroom and her boyfriend is on his knee... in front of another woman. She decides to go on the romantic vacation she had planned with her boyfriend but with the other woman instead. When they get there, they discover a third woman! The three get together and decided to prank the heck out of him. Instead, they find his dead body. That sets off a chain of events where Kathryn becomes one of the main suspects. At least she gets to spend some time with the super hot cop.

This book was fine but I didn't feel like any of the characters were fully developed. 

Three stars

Hu Done It #1

This book came out June 24, 2025

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Photographic Memory by Bill Griffith

I live near Yellowstone and knew quite a bit about William Henry Jackson as one of the people whose work helped influence it becoming the first national park. This book was an interesting historical fiction of WHJ's life, done by his great-grandson who is also an artist, a cartoonist. This graphic novel explores the highs and lows of the original WHJ, of how he became a photographer and how he had an absolutely amazing life, traveling the world, but still struggled with mundanities like actually being paid for his work. 

Some of it was a little bit of a slog for me but I can see why it was included on the list of NPR Best Books.

Three stars

This book came out October 21, 2025

Borrowed as hard copy from the library

Opinions are my own